One-time Second-in-Command Dick Cheney: A Look Back on the Influential Government Service

The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".

Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.

A Post-9/11 Era

Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.

Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.

Disputed Policies

He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I believe it today."

However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."

Broader Context

Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.

Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.

Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.

Investigation Approaches

However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.

Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."

Public Persona

Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."

Business Interests

Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.

In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.

It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty